



MRAGIMERTS 


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MERTEN J. MANDEVILLE 
COLLECTION IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY 
AND OCCULT SCIENCES 


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BY 


CAVE 


CHARLES JOHNSTON 
FLUSHING . NEW YORK 





FRAGMENTS 


Cover Design, by Birger Elwing 


The winged globe of Egypt, symbol of 
the radiant and soaring Spirit: above 
it, that wonderful sign, the Egyptian 
symbol of Life, blended of the Cross 
and the circle of Life Everlasting 


In a far-distant land there stands an 
ancient temple whose name is unre- 
corded and whose very existence has 
been in great measure forgotten. Hewn 
from the living rock, its vast chambers 
have endured through the centuries; 
changeless, immovable as the mountains 
themselves from whose mighty sides 
they were made. The journey there 
lies through the snows of wide trackless 
mountain ranges; over the sands of 
arid plains and deserts. Yet no one who 
ever has been there can fail:-to remember 
its beauty;—the marvellous piles of 
snow-peaked mountains heaped in jagged 
confusion against the intense blue sky; 
dazzling in their unaltering glitter of 
white and silver beneath the flood of 
the sunlight, cold and silent against the 
throbbing of the stars. Below, the vast 
plain stretches its mile upon mile of un- 
dulating grass and woodland; encircling 
the blue of a chain of lakes; threaded, 
ribbon-like, by the river and streams 


connecting these; clothed in wealth of 


3 


vegetation, and rare profusion of flowers. 
Near the lower snows I have picked 
great clusters of that wonderful scarlet 
flower, splashed against the mountain 
sides like freshly spilled blood, and with 
these that other, whose lowly drooping 
head and stainless purity make it seem 
part of the eternal snows themselves. 
One feature of all others I remember, — 
a glittering peak, erect, finger shaped, 
which one sees best from the entrance 
way of the temple. There is almost a 
leap in the joyful spring with which it 
rises towards heaven. Bathed first in the 
rosy flush of the dawn, the golden sun- 
set touches it with final glory, and at 
night I have crept out to look at it, clear 
cut against the black of the sky, point- 
ing ever upward. To some of us it 
stands for much, epitomizing the place 
and all we may have learned there. For 
much can there be learned of the deepest 
mysteries of life and death, and the 
inmost secret of living. Carved deep 


upon the walls of the rocky chambers 


4 


are Fragments from the Great Books of 
the Ages and the Wisdom of all times. 
Sentences, snatches from which have 
floated to us in our dreams, leaving a 
song in the heart, shedding a light upon 
life, —the light that never was on sea or 
shore, —for it is the light of the soul and 
of its knowledge. Alas! we have for- 
gotten so many of the things written in 
that Hall of Learning. Yet I have 
ventured to record a few of them here, 
hoping they may awaken echoes in the 
hearts and minds that read them, and 
that those who have sojourned awhile in 
that wonderful, ancient temple, will re- 
call some of the joy they found there; 
some of the lessons they learned; and 
above all feel once more, if only in a 
moment’s recollection, the brooding 
peace which there of all places on earth 
stretches forth sheltering wings. 
CAvE. 





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I saT bythe fire mourning the mistakes 
and failures of the past, with only the 
ever-watchful ‘‘ Eye” for company. 
Suddenly a voice within conversed with 
me, yet not a ‘‘voice” but rather 
another fart of me, which put its 
thoughts within the brain beside my 
own. 

‘Regret not what is done and cannot 
be undone. Lo! while you sit brooding 
here, gray shapes of doubt, fear and 
disappointment fly from your brain and 
lay their weight of care on other minds 
and so increase the sorrow of the 
world.” 

My answer was ‘‘If I do not repent 
what I have done, how shall the lessons 
of my life’s mistakes be graven deep 
enough upon my soul.”’ 

The voice replied *‘ Write them upon 
your heart in words of fre, but with 
rejoicing that you thus have gained 
further illumination for your way ahead 
which yet is dimly lit. No weak repiner 
gains the Gates of Gold, no feeble arm 
can raise its mighty bars; think you of 
this and learn your lesson well.” 

Gold and silver rays flashed through 
theair. The ‘‘ Eye” watched closely, 
and seemed to glow with phosphorent 


9 


light. Therefore I turned my thoughts 
upon the Master, striving to place his 
face before me. 

Then the face of a dear Friend, who 
is not known on this material plane, 
came up before me, and my whole heart 
went out to him. 

“ Dear Friend,” I thought, -“1fi9 
could have a moment’s converse with 
you face to face, as man to man, with- 
out a veil between, the force you have 
would bear me like a mighty tide, to 
heights I never dreamed of scaling.” 

Again the voice spoke, ‘‘ You know 
not what you ask; that force you speak 
of might shake your nature to its very 
depths. And do you know what demons 
might fly out from thence to torment 
and assail you? Are you strong enough 
for these? But since the soul has 
power of choice, say for yourself, 
whether you will or not. But think of 
this, if for the personal gain you will 
risk the personal loss, will you risk 
losing some future power to aid your 
brothers ?”’ 

I felt abashed, ashamed. Beside me 
I saw a golden light. I closed my eyes 
and said, ‘* No, I dare not, dear Friend, 


come not yet! ” 


Io 


BEHIND all striving and seeming, be- 
hind all laughter and tears, behind our 
failures and the successes which are 
often more disheartening, lie the eter- 
nal verities of existence. And by and 
by, like children weary of playing, we 
rise and put away our toys. There 
falls then a hush, a silence, and to many 
a sense of blank. Suddenly it seems 
the great tide of life has rushed past 
us and left us alone. The world which 
had been so teeming with interests, so 
crowded with occupations and enjoy- 
ments, has, in a flashing turn of con- 
sciousness, become a world of shadows ; 
the hands we held so warmly in our 
own have slipped away; the flowers 
we were weaving fall faded and un- 
heeded. Why this has come about and 
how, is part of the mystery, but come 
it has, and life is no more the same 
forever. 

This is the critical moment, when the 
weak soul faints and falters and suc- 
cumbs. But the strong soul crying — 
At least Z am! struggles forward, and 
struggling, finds that he plunges deeper 
and deeper in the silence and the dark. 
Still move he must, live he must, terror 
of unconsciousness goading him, faith 


Il 


in that one knowledge of his own exis- 
tence the dim rush light by whose fal- 
tering flicker he must seek his way. 
Since I am, then God must be! his 
agony wrings from him, and lo! his 
rush light has grown brighter and the 
path more clear. 

The turmoil of the world lies far be- 
hind. Wars may be raging there and 
nations rise and fall. He heeds it not; 
the darkness has enveloped him, and 
the giant conflict of the universe is 
nothing to him who is struggling madly 
“for his life and freedom, swallowed in 
its awful gloom. 

On, on, oh struggle on. These are 
the birth throes of the living soul. The 
toys are put away, the flowers are faded. 
Yea, but God has other flowers that do 
not fade, and He has gifts worthy the 
soul of man. 


Out on the sunlit plain the warrior 
stands, and ministering angels bear to 
him the blessings of the gods. He 
finds a new heaven and a new earth, 
dew dipped in morning freshness. Men 
of shining mien and eyes of understand- 
ing meet him here. Here is no jar 
nor fret, but a serene stillness full of 


2 


rhythmic cadences, A Soul is born, 
Through darkness and through pain 
and a wild conflict hand to hand with 
death, he has entered into life. The 
Path is found. 

A long road lies before him full of 
steep ascents, but the Companions often 
are beside him, and in the dazzling 
mountain distances he knows Who 
dwells. 


+3 


IT WATCHED the mighty mass of souls 
sweep onward without ceasing. A roar- 
ing filled my ears as of endless torrents, 
rent by sharp shrieks and curses. 

A sulphurous smoke arose; an awful 
stench. Across the darkness, black and 
terrible, shot now and then a lurid glare 
that made the moving horror plainly 
visible. 

My brain reeled. Sick and faint I 
cried: ‘‘ Lo, Master, what is this thou 
showest me ?”’ 

He of the radiant face and anguished 
eyes replied: ‘This is the stream of 
human life; study it well.” 

I caught the faces swiftly passing. 
Pain and sorrow on each one I read; 
anawful tragedy. But heart-breaking as 
these suffering ones appeared, I found 
a deeper sorrow in the ones that spoke 
of joy. 

‘‘This is the maelstrom of man’s 
life,’? the Master said, ‘‘in which he 
lives, from which he fears to die, to which 
he hungers to return. Here lies our 
task: to show a way out of this hell, to 
make men wish to walk in it when 
shown.” 

‘¢ Appalling is the work!” I cried 
aghast. 


14 


‘*Yea, verily,” the clear voice 


answered me, ‘‘ but verily it must be 
done.” 

I looked above to the deep vault of 
heaven, gemmed with its myriad stars. 
A cool air blew, as from some snow-clad 
mountain’s summit, laden with fragrance 
and with peace. But knowing what 
must be, and nerved bythe Master’s 
smile of tenderest compassion, I plunged 
into the maelstrom far below. 


ss) 


In an hour of darkness and discourage- 
ment, when the struggle of the outer 
life and the anguish of the inner life 
seemed more than the trembling soul 
could bear, I heard a voice. From afar 
off it sounded, and yet clear, distinct, 
—not a syllable lost. 

‘‘ Hearken tothese my words, O soul, 
and evermore remember. Abides in the 
heart of every man an inner power, a 
life. There no sorrow dwells, nor 
death, nor fear of these. Peace broods 
above and joy ineffable fills all the at- 
mosphere. Know this inner place to be 
your home, exiled from which the soul 
drinks deep of sorrow,—is defiled by 
sin. That home is yours. Find it, and 
living there, a peace will come; peace 
for you and all you love. The gateway 
of pain bars the entrance, but courage ! 
—and pass on. This is a reminder of 
things you know, but the dark hours 
need such. 

‘““Remember also, the sunshine 
streams on all, but he gains most who 
has most power of appreciation. I 
charge you therefore having known the 
peace, to fear no pain. I charge you 
seek the spiritual sunshine and expand 
there, as the flowers in the sunlight of 


16 


the earth. Desolation belongs to a 
lower plane of consciousness; rise you 
to higher ones that you know well, 
where the smirch of materiality is not, 
nor the discords with which you often 
echo back our divine harmonies.” 


7 


I WENT up into the mountain to com- 
mune with my own heart, and stood 
there looking at the stars. It was still, 
there; so still, I heard the inner voices, 
and felt the unseen presences. One 
came to me whose face I knew, and said: 

‘Look forth upon the earth below. 
What seest thou?” and following the 
pointed finger of my Master, I saw one 
little distant spot which, as I gazed, be- 
came a glow of brilliant golden light. 

From this long rays went forth, and 
wherever these rays touched, another 
fire sprang up. And as I looked about 
me in wonder, light answered light until 
the whole world seemed aflame. I 
heard my Master’s voice. 

‘‘T sent for thee to come up into the 
mountain to learn this thing. Lo! all 
this illumination from one pure devoted 
heart, working unknown, careless of re- 
sults, loving the work for the work’s 
own sake, with eyes fixed ever higher.” 

And as I came down from the moun- 
tain I whispered to my heart, ‘‘In the 
fulness of time,’? and the inner voices 
answered me murmuring in the night 
wind, issuing from the hushed trees and 
flowers which always understand, ‘* The 
time zs full.” 


18 


THE SOUL SPEAKETH: Out of the far 
past I come to you, bridging the dis- 
tance you have placed between us, in the 
majesty of my power, in the effulgence 
of my glory, in the sternness of my dis- 
pleasure. 

I am He whom you have denied 
and turned against; you have crucified 
me between two thieves. Yet am I also 
mighty in my compassion, and therefore 
turn J not away from you— Oh! reflec- 
tion of myself. 

For though you have soiled the divine 
image in which you were made, pre- 
ferring to herd with the animal in you 
rather than to walk the starry spaces of 
the sky; yet I, who am yourself, return 
again and yet again, and so forever will 
return, until at last you see and follow 
me, 

For Eternity is mine and the days 
thereof, and I can afford to wait_the ful- 
filment of my desires. 

God, from whose Spirit I came forth, 
knows me for what I am, and I stand 
between you and the Radiance of His 
Sight, whose least beam would wither 
you to dust. 


a9 


THIS is a vision that came to one, watch- 
ing, and that others may be aided by 
it as he was, it is recorded here. 

He knelt in the Holy of Holies of a 
Temple, where there were flowers and 
perfumes and beautiful objects, strains 
of distant music, harmonious, divine, 
and tinted lights from jeweled windows. 
Dim and shaded was the place, making 
all mysterious and more delicious still. 

A long, long while he knelt there, in 
an ecstasy of adoration, his soul filled 
with the wonder and joy of it. But lo! 
he looked up, and all this had vanished. 
It was cold and empty and full of grey 
light, and the pain of the revelation 
was overwhelming. He fought and 
struggled, but in vain, and after a while, 
seeing it was useless, he rose and 
went out. 

On the Temple steps he met an old 
friend, smiling kindly and affectionately, 
and saying, ‘‘You have been a long 
while. I have been waiting.’’ The friend 
did not see his tears, nor notice how 
bowed he was with suffering. ‘* Come,” 
he said, ‘‘ we shall go together.” 

So they went away together, but al- 
ways on his heart lay the pain with 
crushing weight, and day by day he 


20 


went back to the desolate Temple to 
pray and try to understand. 

Once, as he knelt there in the cold 
and barrenness, he heard a Voice; and 
after that each time the Voice grew 
stronger and sweeter, always soothing 
and comforting, and gradually filling 
him with all the old joy, only fuller, 
deeper, more intense. 

One day he said, ‘‘It is only a Voice, 
it has no form.’”’ And the answer came, 
‘‘Surely, how could there be form 
here?”’ Then he said, ‘‘I used to 
think there was form.” ‘‘That was 
your fancy and ignorance,’’ was the 
reply. 

Then he cried out, ‘‘ Is there always 
to be pain!” and the answer came 
softly, softly, ‘‘ Yea, until the lesson is 
learned.”’ 

He wept bitterly but through his 
tears came a great strength, and by and 
by he understood. 


21 


OncE I heard a soul crying ‘“ Light, 
give me light: I perish in the dark- 
ness!’’ Of all cries, this is the most 
terrible a human heart can hear, for 
only two can answer it: God, and the 
man himself. So we who heard it 
watched and waited, praying and know- 
ing not when the end could be, but 
knowing there would be an _ end: 
watched and waited through the long, 
long days, the hours of which dropped 
like scalding tears into the lap of Time: 
watched and waited through the long, 
long nights when, like those beside the 
dying, we sickened for the dawn, and, 
when the dawn came, shuddered at its 
pallid face and craved the night again. 

At length one day God spoke, and 
we, who knew that He had spoken, rose 
and went each one his way, peace in 
his heart. 

But what God said, only that soul 
can tell. = 


22 


II 





AMBITION is the first curse, as I have 
said before; the subtlest, the most dan- 
gerous of temptations. For let the dis- 
ciple bear this well in mind: on each 
plane or condition that he enters, the 
same vices, the same defects must be 
faced and overcome, in the form belong- 
ing to that plane or condition. Here 
is a pitfall into which many have fallen, 
and which I would have all avoid, were 
it only possible. Some failing is met 
and conquered on a lower plane, am- 
bition for instance, or else fails of effect 
there. The man thinks himself done 
with it, and rightly perhaps, for in his 
present condition he is. But another 
day, another moment, and he enters 
another condition, unconsciously to him- 
self maybe—for so all the earlier initia- 
tions are passed—and then the defeated 
monster returns in a new form, unrecog- 
nizable because of its strangeness. And 
the disciple is overcome ere he is aware, 
usually not knowing until afterwards of 
his defeat. Therefore is it written on 
the walls of the Hall of Learning: 
‘‘This is a battle seeming without 
end, in which the disciple sees himself 
alone with enemies on every hand.” 
But take heart of grace, oh! trembling 


25 


one, there is an end, whose glory passes 
knowledge. The true battle-ground is 
the heart: there the disciple has fought 
and won at last, before it appears out- 
wardly. In confusion lies the great 
danger, the confusion which warps and 
blinds the mind, and weakens the faith. 
Swift, clear, intuitive knowledge must 
cut the cord of difficulty, and with true 
faith for shield and honesty of purpose 
for an armor, well armed thou art, and 
standest ready for the direst foe. The 
thoughts of quiet hours, of calm days 
and serene nights are upon you in the 
conflict and their influence never lost. 
One hour of holy meditation has won 
many a fight of later years. All past 
aspirations keep guard around you, 
mingled with the prayers of those whose 
love acts as a shield about your life. I 
bid you then press on and on to victory. 
Fear not, have faith serene and courage 
dauntless. 


26 


WHAT mistaken ideas are held regard- 
ing the personality. If you could only 
take it.to be all that in yourself you do 
not like, all that you feel to be un- 
worthy, that you wish was not there, 
all that you know, deep in your heart, 
obscures and trammels you! That 
puts another aspect on it, does it not? 
I have spoken to you of impersonality 
before, that it is not the cold abstraction 
many take it for. No wonder, so feel- 
ing, they fear it and flee from it. Who 
would wish to deprive life of all warmth, 
all colour, allenergy, allforce! Occult- 
ism teaches no such thing. It is a 
hideous fancy. Occultism wishes, on 
the contrary, to give more, and sets so 
high a value on these things, that the 
whole force and power of them must be 
transformed to a higher, and therefore 
more exduring plane. They must not 
be frittered away and lost inillusion and 
darkness. Let them be “ving things, 
not dead ones. We want mez to work 
for us, not mummies! 

We want the full strengtn and vigor 
of the nature—the blaze of ardour—not 
a feeble flicker. And we want this all 
carefully garnered, tended and _ con- 
trolled. Dangerous weapons these, in 


=e) 


unskilled hands, for they cut both ways. 
Therefore the hand must be skilled, and 
discipline and training alone will do 
that. But be vigorous, be strong, not 
passive! JI get so tired of these humble, 
washed-out disciples, who have not 
strength enough to stand on their own 
feet, and who simply shut their eyes 
ecstatically, and sit there! What will 
they ever accomplish? Nothing, until 
they are waked up and shaken out of 
that condition. 


28 


You must learn to accept with patience 
the circumstances of your life. It is 
not for you to attempt to alter them, but 
to accept them quietly, and bring out of 
them all the good possible for yourself 
and for others. The circumstances 
really do not matter, since in any we 
can accomplish our destiny. 

You must not be overborne by dis- 
couragement; that arises when results 
are sought for, and results are not your 
affair. 


29 


PEOPLE are like circumstances. You 
cannot make them over. Accept them. 
The only way in which you can hope to 
influence them is by what you are. Ac- 
cept that also. In other words, disre- 
gard all these things, as having to do 
with the two factors which do not con- 
cern you,—circumstances and results; 
then work ceaselessly, zealously, with 
endless love and sympathy for all the 
good you can see. 


30 


REMEMBER, moreover, that only to 
those who are deaf is life a cry; — it is 
asong; and if this be true of life in 
general, it is also true of life in par- 
ticular, of your life and of theirs. We 
are closest to the heart of things when 
we are happy! —when in spite of trials 
and adversities a*‘fountain of joy and 
gladness springs within us. The trials 
are ephemeral and will pass; the joy is 
immortal and divine, and endures for- 
ever. And when I say ‘‘accept,’’ I mean 
no passive condition, but rather what St. 
Paulimplied, when he said, ‘‘Zet us day 
aside every weight and press toward the 
mark.” 


31 


I HAVE no use for the religion that does 
not make a man cheerful and happy, nor 
that does not enable him to do his work 
gladly and carry his burden lightly. It 
is not the higher side of us that suffers 
from melancholy, surely not the higher 
side that encourages or indulges it. The 
melancholy man is the weak man, in- 
variably. Cheerfulness is one of the 
hallmarks of force. That Kingdom of 
Heaven which lies within us is a place 
of peace and joy, and when we have 
found it and live there, we not only ex- 
perience these, but also express them. 
Believe me, aman’s faith can usually be 
measured by his happiness. 


32 


SEEK not satisfaction, seek wisdom. 
Satisfaction is the result of wisdom, 
and in seeking it we seek results, which 
is contrary to the Law. Who can at- 
tain to freedom and not abide by the 
Law? Satisfaction matters never. ‘He 
that loveth his life shall lose it.” 


4 


33 


IF you have patience and devotion you 
will understand these things, especially 
if you think much of them and meditate 
on them, for you have no conception of 
the power of meditation. 


34 


BEWARE of anger, beware of vanity, be- 
ware too of self-depreciation; these are 
all lions in your path. Live each day, 
and each moment in the day, by the 
light within, fixing your gaze upon it 
with faith andlove. When the hours of 
darkness come and you see it not, wait 
in patience and‘ contentment, knowing 
it still burns and that when morning 
dawns, if your watch has been constant, 
you will see it burning, perchance more 
brightly than before. ‘‘The darkest 
hour is before the dawn ;”’ grieve not 
therefore nor feel one moment’s disqui- 
etude. Your lamp is lit, tend it faith- 
fully, it matters not that the outer eyes 
do not behold it. Those who know and 
love you can always see it, and it may 
also-be shining in some other heart 
which as yet has nolight of itsown.... 


35 


THE Lodge waits and watches ever, 
and ever, ever works —think you not 
we have patience?—and those who serve 
us must do the same. You are right, 
no detail is overlooked. Life is made 
up of details, each a step in the ladder, 
therefore who shall dare say they are 
‘Serna ias oP onts 

We are closer than you know, and 
love and thought bring us still nearer. 

Kill out doubt which rises within; that 
isnot yourself, you know / The doubtis 
a maya, cast it aside, listen not to its 
voice which whispers low, working on 
your lack of self-confidence. Therefore 
I say have neither vanity nor self-depre- 
ciation. If you are the Higher Self, 
you are all that is great, but since your 
daily consciousness is far, far below, 
look at the matter frankly and impar- 
tially. . . . Vex yourself not with con- 
tradictions. You know that you must 
stand alone; stamd therefore! ... 

Keep yourself Aigh, and strengthen 
your faith, ... « 

By your own supreme act of faith, you 
must claim and hold these things. 


36 


LET not Humility, that tender pres- 
ence, become a stumbling block. In so 
doing you sin against the Higher Self. 


37 


CLOSER insight gives heavier responsi- 
bility —do not forget that — and a re- 
sponsibility which affects others more 
than it does yourself. See to it then 
that the outer does not obscure the inner, 
for your lamp must be carried aloft for 
others to see, or not seeing it, contin- 
ually to feel... . 

Do not confuse the outer with the 
inner therefore. Though the outer be 
full and rich, remember it is so because 
of the inner shining through, and look 
ever back to that which shines. No 
sorrow, no disappointment lie there, but 
a fullness of realization of which you 
have no conception and a power and 
strength which shall lift you above these 
confusions to a sure place of your own. 
You have been too harsh with your 
lower nature; that leads to dangerous 
reactions. Quiet, steady effort is far 
better, casting aside all thought of re- 
sults. Treat your mind as a child, lead 
it firmly but gently and in all ways and 
at all times strengthen your faith. 


38 


YOUR instrument must not be like 
another’s instrument — no need to du- 
plicate these. It is your special kind 
which is needed and wherein you differ 
from others is not where you fail, but 
where, if perfected, you may do your 
own special work which they cannot do. 


. 


39 


THROUGH these tears of blood you 
will learn; through this suffering you 
will gain the power to aid your fellows. 
What to you is the approbation or dis- 
approbation of any one? Work and 
wait on and all will be well. 


40 


SINK into the very depths of your being ; 
you will find all there. Bea follower 
of no man; follow the inner voice. 


Al 


THE truest happiness is to be found in 
the deep interior study of the great 
mysteries of nature and life, seeking 
thus to find the best manner in which 
the soul may express itself, and ina 
constant fulfilment of this manner of 
expression when found. If they can 
be taught to see and feel this, and the 
true meaning of it, the work is done. 
Labor therefore to accomplish this 
in yourself, for we can teach others only 
what we ourselves know, and this know- 
ledge is one with experience. The divine 
light burns for all: take your part of it, 
and illuminating first your own heart, 
the power will then be yours to illumi- 
nate others. Remember, words are not 
needed. In the silence these things are 
done. Those in whose midst you may 
live, quiet and unknown, will have the 
radiance cast upon them merely by your 
presence. It is not what you say and 
do, but what you a7e that tells, and that 
will leave its ineflaceable mark upon 
each character you meet as upon all 
time. The Soul desires to express itself 
in its reflection, your life. So live that 
it may do so. So think and act that you 
may become a channel for higher things 
to descend to the lower planes. 


42 


MEDITATE on things you want to know. 
- - - Seek all knowledge within your- 
self, do not go without. You under- 
stand what is meant by this; not that 
books should be neglected, but that in- 
formation obtained from them should 
be drawn within, sifted, tested there. 
Study all things in this light and the 
most physical will at the same time lead 
to the most spiritual knowledge. 


43 


Duty is not an ogre, but an angel. How 
few understand this. Most confuse it 
as they do conscience. 


44 


SORROWS, crosses, these are our oppor- 
tunities, could we but see it so. But he 
is far along who does so see it. Hehas 
attained who fully realizes it. 


45 


THE Lodge force working in a pure 
devoted heart sets free the soul and lets 
it speak. The eternal verities resound 
forever upon the spiritual planes, and 
when the mindis pure and will hearken, 
the soul echoes them. 


46 


Wuat of the darkness? What of the 
light? They are one to those who see. 
How plain these matters are in higher 
moments, how drearily obscure at other 
times. This will show you the value of 
higher moments, perhaps, and what 
those always living in them enjoy. 

Be what you love. Strive after what 
you find beautiful and high, and let the 
rest go. Harmony, sacrifice, devotion, 
take these for key-notes, express them 
everywhere and in the highest possible 
way. The beauty of a life like that, the 
power of it, who can measure or set 
bounds to? 


47 


CaN you not live so as to feel the great 
throbbing heart around you, so as to ex- 
press that feeling in even the smallest 
detail? Let there be nothing cold or 
cynical in your view of life. Sense the 
pathos and the pity of it, trusting that 
some day to your now darkened eyes 
the mystery and the pain will be un- 
tangled. Feel, feel, with everything 
that cries, with everything that suffers, 
and in even the most broken fragment 
of a life, find some beauty. Let your 
own quivering heartstrings teach you 
the anguish in other hearts, and live to 
ease it. Painis our best teacher. Do 
not dread or flee her therefore, she 
comes in mercy. Go forth to meet her, 
trembling perhaps, but reverently, pa- 
tiently, unflinchingly; only so can the 
lesson be learned, and from the dark 
hours spent with her a light shall arise, 
showing the way to stumbling feet, giv- 
ing the power to comfort and console. 
And in the peace of that your heart 
shall understand and be satisfied. 


48 


How much misinterpretation and mis- 
understanding there is regarding these 
things, and by the most enthusiastic, 
the most devoted souls, whose emotional 
intensity, driving them along, blinds 
them utterly, and in the /u// chase of 
new experiences they see not that they 
are following aqnly their own desires, 
and again losing the substance for the 
shadow. It zs discouraging, and yet 
the forces thus generated can be used 
for higher ends, and the good inten- 
tion of the deluded one counts for him. 
But remember, O disciple, that in the 
silence these things are performed and 
recognized and in the silence alone. 
Few indeed understand how complete 
that silence must be, few save those who 
have at some time known the peace of 
it. All excitement is psychic, and though 
these whirlwinds of force descend, you 
must learn to hold yourself still in their 
midst, feeling neither attraction nor re- 
pulsion, else chains are forged todraw you 
tothem. There are some who need this 
lesson badly, all more orless. . . . The 
great force acts dually and you must stand 
still, not passive or inactive but unswayed. 
You must learn to take psychic emotions 
in hand as well as physical... . 


49 


Hold your purpose and your ideals 
clearly and steadily before you. Desiring 
truth you shall surely have it, intending 
righteousness you shall surely so per- 
- form, though all things seem to conspire 
against you. In times of confusion and 
difficulty rest upon that, and you may 
then unshaken see no agreement, no 
light ahead... . 


50 


I MEASURE the height, not merely the 
depth of asoul, by its stillness. 


51 


PRESERVE harmony in your own soul 
and it will flow out to all others, for its 
effects are more powerful than you un- 
derstand, and more far reaching. 

Sink all thought of self, all personal 
ambition, the small jealousies and sus- 
picions that mar the heart’s melodies, in 
love of the work and devotion to the 
cause. 

Listen to the great song of love, com- 
passion, tenderness; and losing your- 
self in that, forget these passing shadows. 
United, harmonious, your power is lim- 
itless ; without them we can do nothing. 

See to it then that your tone in the 
great instrument be pure and clear, else 
discord will result. Behind all our 
pain and suffering, shadows these, lie 
the divine harmonies of Reality. These 
seek, and finding lose not. 


52 


THE divine harmony of the Lodge 
surges through our hearts in mighty 
waves, will we but listen. 

In hours of meditation seek it, listen 
to it, it faileth never; and a Power and 
Peace will’be yours, unspeakable, divine. 

From this, knowledge arises, know- 
ledge of things spiritual, the gift of 
tongues and the healing fire. 

This is the Song of Life in which all 
Nature joins, for reaching the heart of 
Nature, we reach the heart of all, and 
read therein the most sacred mysteries 
of being. 

Fail not, falter not in the endeavor to 
hear this always. Remember that the 
cries of suffering and of pain which so 
constantly reach your ears, are but the 
discords which make the music finer, 
discords only to the untrained ear. And 
some day the whole grand symphony it 
will be yours to listen to; hearing it 
first in your own heart, and from thence 
in the heart of the whole world. 

O suffering, struggling Humanity! 
whose eyes know only tears, whose 
ears hear only discords, blind and deaf, 
an infinite compassion broods above you. 

Awake and hearken. The inner 
voices echo a harmony sublime. Cease 


53 


your conflict for an instant’s space and 
you will hear a promise of salvation. 
Peace and power are yours, peace divine 
and power all powerful. 

Lo! your deliverancehas come. The 
Light shines out, the hour is at hand. 
Nature calls aloud with all her voices, 

Humanity shall sweat and toil no 
more in vain. Men’s feet shall be set 
upon that path which leads to glorious 
heights Nirvanic. 


54 


THERE are two ways in which to gain 
occult information: one is to need it 
for further advance, to be unable to ad- 
vance without it; the other is to need it 
for another, to receive it for another’s 
information. In either case it is in 
answer to a need. 

Thereis but onetest of character, —the 
effect we produce on others. It is a 
solemn thought, and one worthy our 
deepest consideration. Each creature 
we contact must be left the better for 
that contact, must have received inspi- 
ration and an impulse towards a higher 
life. In our atmosphere they must 
breathe the air of lofty altitudes, and 
catch'glimpses of the heavenly glory, It 
matters little what you may say, for 
through your words another voice is 
speaking — the voice of your Inner Self. 

‘*Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yea, 
verily. And if you will not receive it 
now, Karma will prove it you in time. 
There is no eluding this primary duty. 
What we are determines it, not what we 
do. Our mere presence in aroom leaves 
its ineffaceable imprint upon that place, 
influencing not merely those immedi- 
ately present, but in varying, though ex- 
act degree, all who may thereafter enter 


e 


it. Realize fully that the uttermost 
parts of the universe are different be- 
cause you are in existence. 

You will be humble, not proud, if this 
stupendous idea once possesses you, 
though the divinity within will rise with 
added power from its stimulating con- 
templation. 


Walt, and while you are waiting, ob- 
serve, pray, and neglect no labour. 
However small or trifling it may seem, 
if true, and performed in the spirit of 
consecration, it is worth the doing. So 
life becomes luminous and the tangles 
straighten out. And the complex be- 
comes simple. . 

Never mistrust nor suspect any one. 
If you are deceived, God will reward 
you by giving of your goodness to the 
offender So that in time he will re- 
pent and change. 

The experiences of life come slowly, 
one by one, each carrying its lesson and 
its promise, will you but receive them. 
These are the true mile-stones, not the 
years; and a man’s age must be reck- 
oned in terms of feeling and knowledge. 
He has drunk of the Fountain of Youth, 
who having known, felt, and experi- 
enced all, still retains his freshness of 
heart, and who meets death with the 
dew of themorning on his face. Forsuch 
there is no death; and of such children 
is in truth the ‘kingdom of heaven.” 


57 


HouLp yourself ready always to sur- 
render everything — Love, yes; you ° 
should never cease from loving, but do 
not permit the tendrils of your heart to 
be so entwined about anything in your 
life or circumstances that you are not 
ready instantly and courageously to sur- 
render it when the demand is made. 
The human heart must not be dulled nor 
inured by pain; do not let your shrink- 
ing from the trials put upon you tempt 
you to this idea. You are not to feel 
less, but more. Not to suffer /ess, but 
more. You are to perfect your endur- 
ance and learn absolutely to surrender 
your heart and will in the moment of 
keenest agony. 


58 


ONE faulty attitude of mind which pre- 
vents the ordinary man fromright living, 
is the rigid division of time into past, 
present and future. There is in reality 
only the present, which contains the 
past, in that in each moment we are the 
result of all that has gone before, and 
the future, in that every day is coloured 
by the hopes of what is to come. We 
are therefore perpetually experiencing 
allthree, but to do so rightly they should 
be viewed as a coherent whole, and not 
with the break between which the illu- 
sions of material existence engender. 
Strive to consider things in this com- 
plete manner, and make daily thought 
thereby more harmonious and consecu- 
tive. The illusion of time is one of the 
greatest of illusions, greater even than 
that of space or distance, —a facet of the 
gem of Mara that blinds our eyes the 
most. Exercise the mind in this steadi- 
ness of aspect, as you would the hand 
for some delicate task; for the art of 
living is of all arts the most delicate, re- 
quiring perfect equipoise for even fair 
accomplishment. The illusion of time 
disturbs the fixedness of the will, and 
the one-pointedness of individual con- 
sciousness. 


59 


EVERY moment has its duty, and in the 
faithful performance of that duty you 
will find the satisfaction of your life. 
It may lead you to great achievement, 
or never beyond the humdrum monoto- 
nies of common existence. What mat- 
ters itto you? The surface of things 
has no part nor lot in your considera- 
tions. That which lives when all else 
has passed away is the desire with which 
the man was working, not the results he 
accomplished. The good he loved and 
served endures forever; the good he 
strove to do more often dies. You who 
have learnt somewhat of paradox will 
not mistake me here. 

Meditation is not inaction; he who 
thinks so errs. But that which lives in 
action is the motive and the desire. The 
form it took passes, as all form must, 
but the soul of it reincarnates and fills 
with power and radiance all other forms 
that spring therefrom. 

In entering the higher life the disciple 
finds a great stillness, for his medita- 
tion is his life, not his deeds: and when 
with heart and ‘mind and full conscious- 
ness he grasps the significance of this 
idea, then indeed he beholds a new 
heaven and a new earth. 


60 


IN the silences of adeep, strong life, lie 
great wells of force, and all who ap- 
proach that life bathe therein, whether 
consciously or unconsciously. It is 
enough for you if you can find such to 
be within yourself, enough to keep its 
waters pure and sweet,—let them say 
what they will. For this is the truest 
teaching, the teaching that endures, and 
without it all words or acts are value- 
less. That which you live, all men in 
time will know. And its power over 
them will be greater as they find it 
within themselves —not emanating from 
you or any other source. The flowers 
growing on the river’s bank owe their 
life to its refreshing flow, but the river 
considers them not, content to fulfil the 
law of its being and seek the ocean. 
Thus we often do most for others when 
we are not thinking of it, but striving 
merely in each moment for what is best 
and highest. The good, therefore, 
streams through us, and accomplishes 
far more by such impersonality, I 
would have you desire, then, that good 
should be accomplished, rather than 
that you should accomplish it. 


61 


THE Truth is One, Unchangeable, 
Eternal; the kernel of all that is; that 
which no falsehood can hide. Nothing 
can be added to Truth, nor aught taken 
away, nor can any effort of men or gods 
affect it. From everlasting has it been 
and thus will be, existing ere the worlds 
were called to being, continuing to exist 
when worlds have passed away; for 
Truth is the very life of God. And yet 
this Truth is as various and many hued 
as the minds beholding it, and no two 
minds can ever see it just the same. 
Realize therefore that all these truths 
are merely aspects of the One, and so 
considering them, concern yourself 
therewith no more. Seek not this truth 
nor that, but your own truth—that 
truth which lives in the depths of your 
own nature, which only you can find, 
and whose finding is the purpose of 
your being. For as Truth is the life of 
God, so your truth is the life of your 
own soul, and that life is your heritage 
and immortality. These are the ‘living 
waters,’”’ the ‘‘ waters of eternal life.” 
See only that you drink from the 
fountain head, not from below where 
the pure stream is tainted by the fancies 
and the follies of the lower mind. And 


62 


having drunk, learn charity, and mark 
that as your brother’s truth exists not 
for your soul, so yours does not exist 
for him, and yet that at their heart they 
both are one, it matters not how diverse 
they may seem. For Truth is One, 
Unchangeable, Eternal. 


. 


63 


WHAT to you is the meaning of Life, 
O seeker after immortality? What 
does it mean to you to live forever, and 
measure existence by Eternities, not 
years ? Truly, you lift your head among 
the stars, and call yourself ‘‘sky- 
walker,” for you sit in the assemblies 
of the gods, and hold creation in the 
hollow of your hand. Yet, though I 
would ask you of those lofty journeys, 
and of the converse that you held, and 
of the music of the spheres, and of 
what the Planetary Spirits taught you, 
you cannot tell me, for the ‘‘ I”? within 
you, meshed in the world of shadows, 
driven like a leaf before the storm in 
the dust of physical existence (ashes of 
the burnt-out fires of the past) wits not 
of these great events. All memory of 
Life has been forgotten in the strain 
and stress of living, and all belonging 
to you of the Real and True, is but 
the echo of your dreams. 

When, therefore, waking life becomes 
to you a dream, and dreams take on the 
vividness of conscious thought, know 
that your soul is budding in the garden 
of Eternal Life; that the Spirit in its 
golden Triangle, with outstretched 
wings, broods close above, and that the 


64 


mystic moment dawns, when basking in 
the great effulgence of that golden Glory, 
the bud will open tothe perfect flower, 
and immortality be won. Then the 
‘“sky-walker”? does not walk but fly, 
bestriding Kala Hamsa, the Great Bird. 
Thus life is given up, and Lifeis gained, 


65 


THE powers of the soul are very dif- 
ferent, and the possession of psychic 
powers is more often a hindrance than 
an aid in their acquirement. 

The soul does not see with the psychic 
eyes any more than it does with the 
physical eyes. Nor does it hear with 
the psychic ears. For the acquirement 
of spiritual knowledge, the first step is 
conquest over self, the mastery of one’s 
instruments both physical and psychic 
on all the planes. The door of spiritual 
knowledge remains irrevocably shut, 
save to him who has attained this mas- 
tery, for he alone is able to ** knock.” 


66 





















1 RE et nH pace ferent, 
Rot At wn bigest ahaa jc 
ae eh Ore beg: teas Bt mag aint 3 eh | 
Senta: 5, ah beaectT er ath wea “StS a 





; i : 
ig his \elysth get fend aay Hi alt ee any 
: s1,.! obo 
; : 1> tL Teele oe ee 
ri s ig nee: - 
i, yt ’ +m a4? aes f ° vf : o ioe) 
; ; 4 ei hd 3! vie) ’ a3 7 i. ; 
‘ J ‘ 
PES (area y gts iP mt 
j - vy. y 4 iv ; ea i] ; 
iA j 4 > Wj 4 4a Ot i 
A Ae ‘ eee | ap ty i aA ry ‘ oy 
as , gt Wh ds b es if a -$) y 2 4 crs 
AR aaa de » i 
"i ; i i Wane et i" “tye \ eI Ara hee y pet ti oat 
| OS ere single MEL ol iE 
ee + ham d | pete a: ‘ rant pet 19 OE i. ; ' is wit ohh 4. a 


oi ) A i Pee) re 
oR fol Sa it " ere ot AG@bigts 
roy PehAL? bier sii ae ? > aS Papel | 4 € TC thd! 





iy heres} + 3, 4 ees tabetyis tes (my DADs , Aine 
ee ay ete eh > vy 
eat aay tad hs Qiadde | Fda ye ‘oats ; 
8)” wr r bin ast i a4 4, Meee oo 
agit os a ait wis PPC 


IN the great silence that has fallen on 
the world to-day some find cause for 
discouragement. The outer voices that 
have spoken to them in the past, now 
are hushed; the lights of guidance or of 
warning, formerly fixed along the path- 
way, shine no longer. It seems as 
though all life shad ceased, and a world 
in which they lived awhile had sud- 
denly been swallowed up in darkness. 
Some unable to endure the change rush 
back with beating hearts and quickened 
breath to leave the Terror far behind, 
and in the noise and glare of outer life 
to drown the haunting recollections of 
their loss. I would not say but that 
many of these are wise. They still need 
outer life; and in saying they follow in- 
terior guidance may be quite correct. 
The soul seeks ever what it needs. 
Others again donot require the discipline 
of worldly life, but further psychic experi- 
ence. This they can always find, and 
they gravitate naturally towards one of 
the many psychic centres of the day, 
each one of which offers some features 
differing slightly from the others. 
Looked at from the broadest view-point 
all this is good. It must be so, if we 
free ourselves from all sectarianism, and 


69 


consider matters as we should from the 
one aspect of the evolution of the soul. 
Into every question with which we deal 
enter the pairs of opposites. Regarding 
either of these alone we will never make 
reasonable decisions. Only by taking 
both — one in the light of the other — 
can we reach just conclusions. Hence 
the occultist —or may I say the tyro in 
occultism—must possess the power of 
seeing both sides of a question, —his 
own and his opponent’s, and base his 
decisions upon an impartial review, 
quite uncoloured by personal predi- 
ection. This wider outlook, if at- 
tained, would end once for all much ex- 
isting confusion in the minds of many 
sincere and worthy people. Having 
conscientiously learned that one thing is 
right, another wrong, one thing true 
and another false, they feel in duty 
bound to embrace and further one, to 
condemn and overthrow the other. But 
the soul will be bound by no such con- 
siderations: it seeks Eternal Verities, 
not passing ones; and realizes that we 
learn as much from failureas success, as 
much from our sins as from our virtues. 
One standard alone it holds, the hon- 
esty and purity of motive, and impelled 


7° 


by that, it goes through all places fair 
and foul alike. It has been many times 
stated that he who once became part of 
this great evolutionary movement, called 
by some the Theosophical Movement, 
could never leave it, and that no resig- 
nation, no denial of obligations under- 
taken, no denuneiation of it even, could 
affect the basic fact of his connection. 
There is the true side to the old Puritan 
doctrine of Election by Grace, as the 
man born of a certain family remains a 
member of that family by the insuper- 
able fact of such birth, even though he 
repudiate it or be repudiated by it. This 
works both ways of course, and until he 
be born again (‘* except a man be born 
again’) the outsider remains an out- 
sider. no matter what name he bears or 
what position he takes. 

These points fully understood and 
considered, it would appear then that 
there is no need for confusion or alarm. 
The man who rushes back to the world, 
is not to be grievedover. Hedoubtless 
gained all he could while in our ranks, 
and now needs different training. 
Neither is he to be mourned who is 
snatched up in a psychic whirlwind and 
carried off before our eyes. Some one 


7 


is carefully directing his course, we may 
be sure, and he will receive just the 
schooling he needs. Those others 
again who remain faithful but trembling, 
holding on desperately, but often with 
sinking hearts,—why such strain? 
They too will follow out the pathway of 
evolution and development planned by 
their own souls and the Directors of 
those souls, and screne in this faith in 
God’s providence, humbly conscious of 
their honest intent, they may calmly 
pursue their way though nations fall, 
though continents rise or sink; realizing 
that all is provided for, that no detail is 
overlooked or forgotten, the very hairs 
of our heads being numbered. 

All we need is earnestly to wish to 
learn and we shall learn; truly to seek 
the right and we shall find it; to love 
holiness and it will be ours. For every 
one ‘‘that seeketh findeth; and to him 
that knocketh it shall be opened.” 


72 


THE first thing a Theosophist should 
do is to form an ideal, not a vague, far- 
away something, which he may half re- 
gretfully, half complacently believe to 
be impossible of attainment; but a defi- 
nite, clear-cut object, varying, of course, 
according to the temperament and char- 
acter of the man who makes it. What 
it is matters not, so long as it be higher 
and better than that which he has and is — 
and so long as he concentrates the full 
power of his nature upon its realization. 
As the man so working attains this ideal, 
he will find growing out of it another 
correspondingly higher, and so on in- 
definitely —as far as human thought can 
reach. In this manner a steady, con- 
secutive growth will be ensured. He 
will: not be one of those giant weeds 
that spring up in the night, only to 
wither when the noonday sun pours full 
uponit. The ideals of too many areso: 
born of emotion alone, nourished in a 
psychic hot-bed, and usually a source of 
gravest danger if not of ultimate de- 
struction. Nature works slowly and 
surely, not by leaps, and we have been 
told to study nature and work with her. 
The cases we see of sudden unfoldment 
are those where growth has already 


73 


taken place, and the soul, with all its 
stores of knowledge and experience, at- 
tained in the past, finally succeeds in 
commanding the personality. Those of 
us who believe in Masters and look to 
them as perfected men, have an ideal 
already formed to work towards; those 
who do not, can find innumerable types 
of noble and elevated thought, char- 
acter and life. But the main point is 
that the ideal must be clearly defined, 
ardently desiredand unfalteringly striven 
for. Andin the fullness of time the step 
attained, he will see that ‘* wherever we 
stand there are always higher peaks of 
effort still towering beyond, lost in the 
mists of cloud;’’ as one who has traveled 
this path has sent us back word. 


74 


ONE question asked of me repeatedly 
is: How shall I find the Masters ? 

To this question, there is but one 
answer: Obedience; yet, when I make 
it, more often I am met with doubtful 
glances and sad shakings of the head. 
Nevertheless, though such a dark saying 
to many, it is the only answer I can give 
—as all who know the Masters testify. 
Implicit, unwavering obedience, unfal- 
tering, undying devotion. As I write 
these words, so full of inspiring hope 
and courage to the disciple, I hear the 
clamour of your thoughts: What is 
this but a return to the superstitions of 
olden times ? What difference between 
this and the Roman Catholic Church ? 
Would you have us surrender our minds 
and our wills >—we who have been told 
to stand alone, to accept nothing upon 
faith, to make our own decision 
always ! 

Yes; in the face of your clamour, I 
repeat my words. And moreover I 
answer you, paradoxical as it may seem, 
that between what you say and what I 
say, there lies no contradiction what- 
ever. Further than that, what I say 
contains what you say, in its truest, 
completest sense. And this paradox is 


TS 


one of the first things you must learn, 
in order to approach the Masters. 

To be practical and explicit, I will 
show you the beginning. The first step 
you have been learning — Isolation: 
Stand Alone. Think for yourself, Take 
no man’s word, nor oath, Know only 
that which you yourself have knowledge 
of, which you yourself have tried and 
tested. Clumsily, indistinctly, you still 
have grasped the underlying truth of 
these words. Now consider the other 
side—Obedience. Do not try just yet 
to reconcile these two states of mind. 
Merely postulate to yourself: They are 
in reality one; later I shall understand 
why and how. Meanwhile, to put aside 
apparent contradictions, and to experi- 
ment thoroughly with this next step, are 
my means of reaching full comprehen- 
sion of my subject. Surely any teacher 
may ask so much of a pupil without ap- 
pearing to assume unduly, or to demand 
too great surrender? And, as your 
teacher, for the time being, I do ask just 
this in your mental attitude. If I mis- 
lead you by any chance or error, or duplic- 
ity on my part, you yourself will soon be 
able to detect and expose me by means 
of the very knowledge I shall impart. 


76 


We will try Obedience, then; step 
number two. Do not wait until you 
can obey well; if you do, you willnever 
begin. But begin now, this minute, in 
just the state of mind and body and life 
in which you are. ‘‘ Any obedience is 
better than none.’’?—You will then ask 
me—What shall ‘I obey? I answer: 
All your duties are obediences. Your 
duties, small and great, are the Master’s 
biddings. Consider them so, and they 
will be so. Believe me, until you learn 
to obey these biddings of His, you will 
have no others. ‘* To do what He bids, 
is to obey Him; and to obey Hin, is to 
approach Him. Every act of obedience 
is an approach, an approach to Him who 
is not far off, though He seems so, but 
close behind this visible screen of 
things, which hides Him from us. You 
have to seek His face; obedience is the 
only way of seeing Him.” 

Perhaps you will ask: Wherein is 
this different from Christianity, from the 
teachings of the churches in all ages, 
from the practise of holy men of all 
times ? Who ever said it was different ? 
When did Theosophy ever claim tostand 
alone ? Has it not from the beginning 
insisted on the oneness and sameness of 


a 


all true religious teachings, placing in 
our hands an explanation of them, and 
giving to them, as to life itself, a mean- 
ing and a purpose otherwise lacking ? 
The churches have bidden men assume 
this attitude towards God, but the phil- 
osopher revolts from such a lowering of 
the Absolute, the individualising and 
materialising of the Universal Spirit. 
Priests have often occupied such a posi- 
tion, in the minds of their followers. 
But here the relationship was essentially 
an exterior, not an interior one, founded 
upon circumstance and convention, not 
upon fact; and, however excellent and 
useful of itself, not the reality, but a 
foreshadowing, and reaching out for the 
truth. 

Thus the beginning lies in a general 
obedience, which each one must make 
specific and particular, by his attitude of 
mind and the completeness of his atten- 
tion. Let me illustrate: Some one 
calls to see you, whom you do not care 
for, interrupting your work or your 
leisure; say to yourself: The Master 
may have sent this one to me; Z wi#/ 
actas if He had. Perhaps there is some- 
thing I am to say to him, or something 
Ican do. Trials, vexations, anxieties, 


78 


arise in your business, in your house- 
hold; say to yourself: The Master 
stands watching, to see if I have gained 
in patience, in courage, in sympathy, 
since yesterday. Do you discern my 
meaning here? Do _ you perceive, 
further, that at first you are obedient to 
your own ideal of the Master, and your 
own highest conceptions of duty and 
selflessness? In other words, you are 
obedient to yourself ? Vo Man, no out- 
side power, constraining you? No 
forcing of your confidence, or your judg- 
ment in uncongenial channels ? When 
the student first presents himself to the 
Master, which he does through his mind, 
in his desire to approach Him, the 
Master lays this first command of obedi- 
ence on him, saying: ‘Obey Z7hyself 
and thy highest ideal of duty.” Now, 
as the student undertakes this, he learns 
through his obedience those things 
needful to bring himtothe Master. For 
in actual fact They cannot descend to 
our plane. We must rise to Theirs. 
And each obedience is an approach. 
Through this obedience, the student 
grows into the disciple, and the disciple 
knows his Master, at least in part. The 
man becomes a disciple through obedi- 


79 


ence to the laws of his own being. 
When he has learned these, he finds him- 
self where he can see and speak with 
the Masters, who, through perfect 
obedience, have become the embodiment 
of Universal Law. Thus he finds that, 
having obeyed his Highest Self, he has 
obeyed the Master: they are one. And, 
in obeying the Master, he realises that 
he obeys no man, yields his will, his 
life, to no other will or life; but having 
learnt through obedience to himself, 
that the Master expresses the highest 
he is, or can become,—the conserver, 
the executor, the agent of Universal 
Law, which is God,—therefore, know- 
ing and seeing the Master at length as 
He is, he obeys His slightest indicated 
wish, His merest look or gesture, as he 
has learnt before to obey himself. And 
so he is in truth a disciple, a servant of 
the Masters, a child of God, and an in- 
heritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

If the Master should descend to the 
student’s plane, and impose obedience 
upon him there, what should we have, 
but the old, old story of priestcraft, and 
the degradation and darkness that have 
too often followed it ? If, on the other 
hand, obedience were not required, what 


80 


should we have, but lawlessness, 
anarchy, selfishness, disbelief, despair 
and Death ? 

Isolation and Obedience, these are the 
pillars of discipleship. But obedience 
is what you need to learn, and through 
obedience you will find Him you seek. 
‘Out of obedience and devotion arise 
an habitual faith which makes Him, 
though unseen, a part of all our life. 
He will guide us in a sure path, though 
it be a rough one; though shadows 
hang upon it, yet He will be with us.” 


81 


OF all the mysteries of human life the 
deepest and most baffling is the mystery 
of pain. For many of us, it consti- 
tutes the mystery of Life itself, and cer- 
tainly it is the last we shall fathom, 
for he who understands it is more than 
man, and is crossing the threshold of 
Divinity. 

The finest and highest types of men 
are usually those who have found it 
most difficult of comprehension. Judg- 
ing the natural world in the light of 
their own compassion, they stand aghast 
at the vast amount of misery which a 
Divine Power or Law permits, knowing 
that if it were in their own hands they 
would not suffer it an instant. Thus 
thrown back in the highest part of 
their own natures upon such contra- 
dictions and inconsistencies, many have, 
from the best of motives, refused to be- 
lieve in an overruling Providence or a 
future existence, and have devoted their 
lives to the amelioration of present con- 
ditions. This is logical and natural; 
and a ceaseless Why? has risen in 
all ages from aching hearts and bewil- 
dered minds. And still it seems that the 
heavens give no answer, and that all the 
advancement of science, all the progress 


82 


in art and industry have failed to touch 
the root of our perplexity. What reply 
have we to make to this long unan- 
swered question? 

There is not much to be said, for 
words appeal direct to the mind alone, 
and the mind has no plummet with which 
to fathom the depths of Soul. I doubt 
not, however, that the true answer is 
writ large all over creation, but in a 
hieroglyph unknown to us as yet, since 
its Rosetta stone remains still undis- 
covered. Man has come a long way 
upen the road of evolution, but in com- 
parison with that which lies before him, 
the space already traveled is as nothing. 
Could we realize this fact we might find 
a steadier patience as well as greater 
hopefulness. 

Indications as to the direction in 
which to look for a solution of our 
problem have never been Jacking, and 
those of quickened intuition, who have 
noted these and followed their leading, 
have evidently found certain satis- 
factions and elucidations, and have left 
messages behind, whose purport, how- 
ever, has often been found as perplexing 
to the ordinary intelligence as the mys- 
tery itself. Nevertheless, let us con- 


83 


sider some of these for a few moments, 
ina spirit of sympatheticinquiry. What 
may make our task more difficult is that 
past misconception adds its quota to 
the fog. Inthe early days of the Chris- 
tian Church, for example, men thought 
they understood the meaning of certain 
of those symbols and acted upon them 
with the enthusiasm of young faith, only 
to discover later how mistaken they had 
been; and so the very symbols them- 
selves came to share in the disrepute 
and ridicule attaching to their misunder- 
standing. 

We must strive to clear ourselves, as 
far as possible, of previous conceptions, 
and permit a fresh breath of rising in- 
spiration to presage the glimmer of 
dawn. ‘The first statement which seems 
invariably to stand out from this mass 
of testimony both because of its startling 
nature and also because all agree upon 
it, whatever other differences may exist, 
is in itself a complete contradiction, no 
lessthan this, —that PainisJoy. Feware 
willing to progress further in a line of 
investigation whose first pronouncement 
is innature and form so absolutely unrea- 
sonable. And yet this is the direction we 
must follow; which the Saints, the 


84 


prophets, the martyrs, the seers of all 
times and in all religions, have unhesi- 
tatingly pointed out, 

Let us consider the nature of man. 
We all agree in its duality, whatever 
other distinctions we may accept or re- 
ject, and this duality expresses itself in 
a higher and a lower nature, or in one 
that turns to the good and in one that 
turns to the evil, or the Soul and the 
flesh, as others have named it. These 
two seem to be in ceaseless opposition 
and constitute a veritable battleground, 
whose result, either way, appears to 
many without meaning. But granting 
this dual nature, may it not be that all 
the experiences and emotions of lifecreate 
equally divergent effects upon either 
side, and that what is Pain for the one, 
is Joy for the other? 

This is what those who have had no 
experience of spiritual life are unwilling 
to grant, and yet it is the meaning of 
the testimony of the Saints, given often 
in highly coloured and extravagant lJan- 
guage, or under figures of rhetoric so 
exaggerated as to appear grotesque to 
our more sophisticated ears. Never- 
theless, hundreds died, and died cheer- 
fully, because of this faith; and the con- 


85 


viction which enables a man to rise 
above slow torture and rejoice in it, is 
not one to be placed indifferently aside, 
no matter what its outer expression may 
be. 

One thing seems certain; that a com- 
plete reversal of all ordinary views of 
life and happiness must take place be- 
fore such a state is possible; for the 
long line of Saints all testify to this, that 
each one of them chose suffering, em- 
braced it eagerly, and recommended it 
as God’s choicest gift to man. ‘* Pain 
is necessary to holiness,’’ writes one. 
Says another, ‘‘ Like the cherubim, suf- 
fering carries God, which is to carry 
the Light itself . . . the Soul which 
perseveres in her patience is sooner or 
later clothed with a marvellous power, 
and ends by becoming unconquerable.”’ 
This would indicate then that Pain is the 
Awakener and the Initiator into the 
higher or spiritual life, the means by 
which we attain the gifts of the spir- 
itual life; that by its aid we may rid 
ourselves of that which symbolically we 
call the ‘‘ flesh,”’ and so enter a higher 
state of consciousness, a plenitude of 
power and illumination, which gives us 
the joy of the Blessed. 


86 


To-day this divine ecstasy, this joy of 
pain, is considered morbid, yet all the 
great teachers have inculcated it by life 
and doctrine. Are we, I wonder, so 
much wiser than they? The shadow of 
the Cross lies athwart human life, and 
by divine decree ever shall so lie until 
men accept its meaning. Then they 
will find it was indeed but a shadow, 
caused by the brilliance of the light 
streaming from the Heavenly World. I 
suppose it is impossible for some kinds 
of natures to comprehend that which is 
well known among disciples of certain 
degrees, that the delight of sacrifice is 
so great that they must be carefully 
kept from it, lest they come to do it for 
the pleasure they find in it, rather than 
impersonally; and so grow in vice 
rather than in virtue. 

We shall be wise if we can bring our- 
selves to realize that our point of view 
is material, that we judge Joy and Pain 
by the standards of the ‘‘flesh,’’ not by 
those of the spirit; for we shall then 
have taken an important step towards 
ajuster appreciation of our difficulty. 
‘* We who cry out and complain if God 
but touch us sharply, how are we to 
understand when St. John of the Cross 


87 


tells us, that we are to love tribulation 
more than all good things, and are to 
- be at home in the sufferings of Christ, 
and that there are Souls who would . 
gladly pass through the agonies of death 
to enter deeper into God? Yet it is a 
blessing to know that such desires are 
possible to man.’”’ And if to one man, 
why not to all? to you and to me? 
There is an inspiration in such a thought, 
a sound like the opening of dungeon 
doors, or a flash from the battlements of 
Heaven. 

May not this be part of our inheri- 
tance— the inheritance of the Saints in 
light? part of that wonderful portion of 
knowledge and power which the gradual 
processes of Time are leading towards: 
not from one blackness to an another, 
but from glory to glory, prepared for us 
by a Love and Wisdom far beyond our 
comprehension? Surely the purposes 
of God for humanity were trifling if we 
could understand them! 

Joy, as we know it here, is a beau- 
tiful rainbow thing, composed of a shaft 
of sunlight falling upon mist, which we 
can never grasp, over which we have no 
slightest control, and which any instant 
may vanish from our fond gaze, never 


88 


to return. This is no fit object for an 
immortal Soul. Lovely flashes and 
dreams, we may prize them if we will, 
as we should, indeed, note and prize 
each experience Life sends us, knowing 
that each bears some message, and is 
for our instruction and uplifting. 

But let us not call them Joy, that 
sacred name which conceals the essence 
of God Himself ; that symbol of our God- 
like heritage; that promise, in our 
longing for it, of endless satisfaction, 
whose divine nostalgia bears our most 
precious Hope. 


THE relations of Master and pupil— 
and the training and struggle along the 
path which leads to the heights of adept- 
ship, these have an interest profound. 
They induce thoughts which are to the 
mind like cool shady resting places in 
the fever and fret of life, or like a 
draught of water to thirsty lips. But 
though many are truly seeking, the 
most earnest share in the common heed- 
lessness of the age, and overlook when 
they reach it, the very hint they have 
sought for so long. However, it is not 
for those who understand, but for those 
who do not, that I will write and re- 
write, trusting that each time a new pre- 
sentation may reach them, anew ‘‘ voice 
crying in the wilderness ” strike on their 
inner ears. Much has been said on this 
subject then, little understood, and this 
lack of understanding is largely due to 
the strangeness of the theme, and also 
that it is written in that inner language, 
that language of the soul, which few 
can read, and whichit is almost impos- 
sible to translate into the vernacular of 
the day. For the true language is one 
of vibration and picture, and our com- 
mon speech is only a matter of set form 
and memory. So that when the attempt 


go 


is made to put higher things into words, 
they lose their life and meaning, and 
become as cold and dead as the words 
which frame them, without energizing 
power, and robbed of all possibility of 
awakening the soul. And yet the cry 
continually is, to put these matters 
‘plainly,’ denuded of imagery, and 
reduced to mathematical formula. True, 
they could all be expressed by mathemat- 
ical terms and figures, but in those 
planes or divisions of mathematics 
where the student must exercise the 
highest powers of the imagination—a 
faculty all great mathematicians have 
possessed in marked degree. So I 
repeat, the expression of inner truths 
in plain everyday speech is as difficult 
as to put a proposition of Euclid in 
words a child could comprehend. An 
approximation therefore, is the most I 
can hope for, and it must not be forgot- 
ten that the ‘‘plainer”’ the phrase, the 
more the ‘‘spirit’ will be lacking. Yet 
since the need exists the effort is made 
to supply it. If it fail no harm is done, 
and it will have succeeded if only one 
soul comes into closer touch with the 
Helpers of humanity, or obtains one 
fuller glimpse of the life which all must 


gl 


ultimately lead, and the path along which 
all in time must travel. 

Chélaship then, has two main di- 
visions, which have been called the 
‘probationary ’’ and the ‘‘ accepted.” 
These terms will serve as well as any 
others. Now “ probationary chélaship ”’ 
has also two main divisions, and these 
divisions are in fact two stages of med- 
itation, so that the subject of meditation 
is the first to be dealt with. I do not 
suppose that in the entire range of Theo- 
sophical thought and study, there is 
any subject of greater importance than 
this, or at the same time so little un- 
derstood. It has been defined as ‘‘the 
cessation of active, external thought.” 
To most that condition appears one of 
absolute negation, for most people live 
in the brain, identify themselves with 
its consciousness and are unable to con- 
ceive of a condition which is exclusive 
of active thought of some kind. To 
such people the first step is plain; they 
must learn to do this—they must learn 
to meditate. And therefore so much 
stress has been laid upon daily medita- 
tion, for until a man meditates daily and 
regularly he can go no further. The 
beginnings of chélaship lie in this, and 


Q2 


in what grows out of it. The first ef- 
fort then must be to take a regular time 
each day, and concentrate the mind upon 
some one thing, something ofa spiritual 
and elevating nature, something which 
will give food to the soul, though in the 
beginning this will be more of a menzal 
discipline than anything else; for it is 
not easy absolutely to concentrate the 
mind, and it usually takes much time, 
persistence and patience to accomplish it. 
When, however, this is accomplished, 
when the man has learned to concentrate 
his mind on any given subject, then as 
he daily practises this, he will attain 
during his periods of meditation that 
conscious condition, which is the true 
meditation, the ‘‘ cessation from active, 
external thought.”? In this condition 
the mind is used as an instrument, the 
man’s consciousness remaining behind 
or aboveit. In this way the man attains a 
higher state of consciousness, one which 
when it becomes habitual enables him 
to enter into communication with the 
Masters, and all’ who function on those 
higher planes of being. At first he 
_learns to do this at stated times; gradu- 
ally he learns to do it always, so that in 
the true sense he is always meditating. 


93 


No matter how the body or the mind be 
employed, the true center of conscious- 
ness is never lost; the mind will be the 
man’s instrument, and instead of identi- 
fying himself with the mind, mental 
activity will be carried on without his 
losing the consciousness of the real 
fee Take aT 

This state of continual meditation 
constitutes the second degree; for when 
the disciple has reached it he finds his 
master waiting, and thereupom becomes 
an ‘‘accepted chéla.”” Under this head- 
ing of ‘‘ probationary chélaship ”’ I have 
not discussed purification, but that I 
think almost goes without saying as 2 
sine qua non, and there is nothing that 
accomplishes this as meditation does. 
‘“*As a man thinks so he becomes.” 
Meditation on a virtue causes it tospring 
up in the heart; meditation on the 
Master causes one to grow into His like- 
ness, the likeness of the perfected man, 
And no man whose thoughts are always 
pure and high will be guilty of mean, 
low or sinful acts. These two, there- 
fore, this effort of continual meditation, 
accompanied by practise, the living out 
in the life what one thinks in the mind, 
constitute the preparation for chélaship 


94 


or the probationary degree. And all of 
this the man must accomplish entirely 
alone and unaided, As the babe must 
learn to eat and digest for itself, though 
the loving care which surrounds it would 
help and save in every way, so with the 
neophyte in occultism (what St. Paul 
has called ‘‘babes in Christ ”’); there 
are certain steps he must take alone, cer- 
tain things in which no one can aid him, 
however great the love and compassion 
which may long to do so. And this 
fact, that until these steps are taken, 
these certain things accomplished for 
himself, the Master can do nothing for 
him, must be realized and its full mean- 
ing faced and accepted. For we cannot 
reach the Masters until we penetrate 
their plane. When we have so done, 
we find, each one finds his Master wait- 
ing. 

And this is no figure of speech, as 
some have taken it to be. When a man 
reaches his own Soul, he reaches the 
Master truly, for the ‘‘ Master Soul is 
one,” and so the Soul is often spoken 
of as the Master. But the Masters are 
living men, and the chéla is regularly 
taught and trained by his Master after 
he has been accepted, just as any pupil 


95 


is by any teacher. So faith is needed. 
For a man can hardly hope to reach and 
cummunicate with those whose actual 
existence he doubts, and after a certain 
point the help and training of a Teacher 
is essential for further spiritual develop- 
ment. Until this point is reached how- 
ever, the man must work alone, for how 
long depending entirely upon the length 
of time he may require to attain the in- 
dicated conditions. At the risk of being 
wearisome I must repeat this again and 
yet again, for ~o ome seems to com- 
prehend it, and all complain over it at 
some stage or other, which they would 
not do if they appreciated the inevitable- 
ness of it. Therefore this is in very 
truth a path of difficulty, for as he makes 
his first demands upon the Law, as he 
makes his first efforts towards another 
life, certain trials are sure to meet him. 
This demand and this effort have two 
sure results. They first of all arouse 
his whole nature, bring to the surface 
all that isin him, both of bad and good, 
and thus he finds himself assailed by an 
hundred faults and temptations which he 
has never known previously. Secondly 
-his demand upon the Law brings the 
Law upon him. Before he can be an ac- 


96 


cepted chéla his past Karma must de- 
scend upon him and be measureably ex- 
hausted. So that just when he is 
striving to lead a better and a purer life, 
he finds troubles, difficulties, sorrows, 
and burdens of all kinds descending 
upon him, and it is in the midst of this 
turmoil and struggle that he must teach 
himself, unaided, the control of mind 
and heart, and enter into that more 
spiritual condition known as continual 
meditation. 

Blessed he who continues unfaltering 
to the end. This is the just and merciful 
Law, and one can easily see that it 
must be this way and no other. With 
the gradual unfoldment of time, the 
orderly progression of the ages, all will 
know and enter into these conditions, 
slowly, step by step, climbing the ladder 
of life. But he who determines to seize 
his heritage now, by main force, can 
expect only a fierce combat, for he takes 
with one blow what others will toil for 
through centuries. 

Of accepted chélaship little has been 
told. What need? The Master in- 
structs his disciples then, and those who 
have not reached that stage, are wiser 
to concern themselves with the needs 


97 : 


and aspirations of their own condition. 
The eastern books tell us of four 
divisions, and give them names. After 
these stages are passed the man is 
‘‘more than man,’’? and if he choose 
aright at that great day of choice, then 
‘¢all Nature’s wordless voice in thousand 
tones ariseth to proclaim: Joy unto ye, O 
men of Myalba. A pilgrim hath re- 
turned back ‘from the other shore’; 
a new Arhan is born.” 


IMMORTAL life and immortal hope are 
the keynotes of Theosophy: eternal 
progress andeternal joy our most clearly 
defined facts. When our books address 
the sensualist, or the manof the world, 
they depict this path of endeavour as 
one of woe,—for woe indeed it would 
mean to him until his higher nature 
woke to life. And they do this, not to 
entice him to this path, but to warn him 
from it, bidding him wait until the 
eternal progress of the ages will have 
brought him to another desire and 
another sense of life. It may appeara 
hard saying, but all this woe and agony 
belong to the veriest tyro,—to him who 
has not yet taken the first step. We 
are bidden to ‘‘grow as the flower 
grows, unconsciously, but eagerly 
anxious to open its soul to the air,”— 
not by a painful process of uprooting. 
This agony is ‘‘a phantasmal outer 
form of horror’? which we have built 
up for ourselves: the reality is ‘‘faith, 
hope and love,” the ‘‘song of life.” 
‘* Life itself has speech, and is never 
silent. And its utterance is not as you 
that are deaf may suppose, a cry; it is a 
song.” 

Only that which is ephemeral is ever 


yo 


sad. All brief-lived things bear on them 
this sure sign of overshadowing nothing- 
ness. We may take comfort for our 
sorrows in this thought; and Theosophy 
is misunderstood if construed to teach 
that pain is anything but an illusion,— 
the shadow of the reality, which is joy. 


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